I ntroduction: By Ruth 2, Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi, have moved back to Bethlehem and apparently

Transcription

1 2 2:1 22 Boaz Notics in his Fild Ths studis ar dsignd for blivrs in Jsus Christ only. If you hav xrcisd faith in Christ, thn you ar in th right plac. If you hav not, thn you nd to hd th words of our Lord, Who said, For God so lovd th world that H gav His only-bgottn [or, uniquly-born] Son, so that vry [on] bliving [or, trusting] in Him shall not prish, but shall b hav trnal lif! For God did not snd His Son into th world so that H should judg th world, but so that th world shall b savd through Him. Th on bliving [or, trusting] in Him is not judgd, but th on not bliving has alrady bn judgd, bcaus h has not blivd in th Nam of th only-bgottn [or, uniquly-born] Son of God. (John 3:16 18). I am th Way and th Truth and th Lif! No on coms to th Fathr xcpt through [or, by mans of] M! (John 14:6). Evry study of th Word of God ought to b prcdd by a naming of your sins to God. This rstors you to fllowship with God (1John 1:8 10). If thr ar popl around, you would nam ths sins silntly. If thr is no on around, thn it dos not mattr if you nam thm silntly or whthr you spak aloud. Outlin of Chaptr 2: Vv. 1 3 gos to glan a fild of grain Vv. 4 7 Boaz inquirs about, who is glaning in his fild Vv Boaz spaks to dirctly, to protct and provid for hr Vv Boaz provids for apart from hr knowldg Vv and Naomi talk about Boaz I ntroduction: By 2, and hr mothr-in-law, Naomi, hav movd back to Bthlhm and apparntly hav bn living thr for awhil. It is clar that thy ar not vry wll off, financially spaking, as will rqust to go out to th filds to gt th produc that th raprs lft bhind. It was God s dtrmination that whn a fild was harvstd, that a rasonabl prcntag of produc was lft bhind for th poor. Thrfor, thos who wr poor could go into th filds aftr th raprs and gt nough to at for thmslvs and thir family. In this cas, th fild blongd to a clos acquaintanc of Naomi s husband Boaz. With Boaz, w hav th doctrin of th kinsman-rdmr, which, bcaus of th Hbrw, is Boaz will notic this woman out in his fild, and h will inquir about hr. Sh is not ncssarily th only poor prson out in his fild although sh may b th only poor woman out in his fild. H notics hr and taks stps to s that sh is protctd and providd for. In this chaptr, I will quot from J. Vrnon McG rathr xtnsivly. H is a prachr, originally from Txas, who just flat out sounds lik a hick. H has this folksy, unducatd-sounding drawl in fact, I onc tund in to him on th radio whn a lady frind was with m a Christian girl, and sh mad it clar within 30 sconds that sh did not want to listn to that hick! McG was a Biblical scholar with fw quals in his day. Thologians fight ovr various nuancs, and somtims, th things thy disagr about ar hard to undrstand. McG could tak th sam complx doctrins God s lading, God s sovrignty, man s fr will, God s ovrruling will, God s ssnc McG could tak thos doctrins and xplain thm so that thy mad sns and wr simpl to undrstand. You might rad a dozn diffrnt authors on th sam prplxing Biblical topic, and still not fl as though you hav a grasp of it. Thn you listn to Dr. McG for a fw minuts, and th doctrin maks prfct, logical sns. H had a knack and an ability to tak th dp things of Scriptur and xplain thm so that any blivr could undrstand thm. I v listnd to a lot of Christian radio today, and much of it is just trip and nonsns. I don t vn bothr with so-call Christian tlvision broadcasting, as I hav yt to s a worthwhil

2 Th Book of 37 tachr on tlvision but McG s half hour, daily show, broadcast yars and yars aftr h wnt to b with th Lord, is a tstimony to this man s dcptiv brillianc and his ddication to th Word of God. Gos to Glan a Fild of Grain Slavishly litral: And to Naomi, a frind to hr man, a man of valor, walth from a rlativ of Elimlch and his nam Boaz. 2:1 Modratly litral: And to Naomi, a clos frind of hr husband, a man of walth from th family of Elimlch and his nam [was] Boaz. And Naomi knw of a clos frind of hr lat husband s, Boaz, who was a walthy man in th family of Elimlch. 1 Th word that w should zro in on is th masculin singular noun môwda ( ) [pronouncd moh-dah ], - which is gnrally translatd kinsman or rlativ. It could simply b an acquaintanc or a frind. W find this word only in this vrs and in Prov. 7:4 (w will find th fminin vrsion of this noun in 3:2). It is tough to mak a judgmnt upon th maning of a word whn it has no cognats and is found only two or thr tims in Scriptur. 2 Howvr, by its us in Prov. 7:4, it is unlikly that this word mans rlativ, but mans clos acquaintanc or clos frind. Strong s #4129 BDB #396. My concrn, whn I xamin this word was, what happns to our concpt of th kinsman-rdmr, particularly if w no longr hav a kinsman? This problm is solvd in this vrs as wll as in v. 20. Boaz is said to b a man of, and thn w hav th adjctiv gibbôwr ( ) [pronouncd gib-boar], which mans, as an adjctiv, strong, mighty, valiant. W saw this word a grat dal in th books of Joshua and Judgs to rfr to valiant soldirs. Strong s #1368 BDB #150. This is followd by th chayil ( ) [pronouncd CHAHyil ] and it mans fficincy, army, strngth, valour, powr, might; as wll as that which is gottn through military strngth walth, substanc. Strong s #2428 BDB #298. Hr, it rfrs to th walth and prosprity of Boaz. Many of us ar jalous of thos who ar walthy. In fact, thos of us who ar walthy, ar jalous of thos who ar walthir. It is as though a fw xtra dollars in our pockt would mak th diffrnc btwn frustration and happinss. Howvr, with mony coms rsponsibility. As a tn dos not hav any clu as to how his nw frdom as a young adult is tid to rsponsibility, so th adult without walth dos not fully grasp th rsponsibility which accompanis walth. It is not as though a fistful of dollars suddnly taks away our problms (or vn all of our financial ons). And with this nwly acquird walth coms a whol nw st of problms and a whol nw st of rsponsibilitis. Boaz undrstood th rsponsibility that cam with his walth and throughout this book acts with grat honor and intgrity. Thn w hav from and th fminin singular construct of mishpâchâh ( ) [pronouncd mish-paw- KHAWH], which mans family, clan, sub-trib. Strong's #4940 BDB #1046. This is affixd to th noun Boaz. Thrfor, Boaz was both a frind and a rlativ to Elimlch. Apparntly h was not a nar nough rlativ for Naomi to plop hrslf and down on his front stps whn thy rturnd from Moab. And so said, th Moabitss, unto Naomi, Lt m go into, plas, th fild and lt m glan in th ars [of grain] aftr whom I will find favor in his ys. And so sh said to hr, Go, my daughtr. 2:2 So, th Moabitss, said to Naomi, Lt m go, plas, into th fild and lt m glan among th ars [of grain] bhind on, in whos ys I find grac. And sh answrd hr, Go, my daughtr. So, th Moabitss, said to Naomi, Plas lt m go into this fild and glan for lftovr produc, in th fild of him whom I will find grac. And sh answrd hr, Go, my daughtr. 1 This word is actually rad diffrntly than it is writtn. It is rad as môwda, although writtn as myda. I am not awar of y bing usd as a vowl in Hbrw apart from a vowl point, so that maks th rading mor likly than what is writtn. 2 Spak to wisdom: You [ar] my sistr and a clos frind; you call to th undrstanding. (Prov. 7:4).

3 Chaptr 2 38 Whn bgins to spak, th first two vrbs that sh uss ar in th voluntativ stat, which allows us to insrt th word lt. What sh dsirs to gathr ar th fminin plural of shibbôlth ( ) [pronouncd shib-bohlth], which mans ars of grain. Strong s #7641 BDB #987. This would b th barly harvst, as w will s latr. Gnrally spaking, this is mid-april. Sinc th nxt portion is modratly difficult, w will look at som othr translations first of what said: NASB NIV Own's Translation Young's Lit. Translation Plas lt m go to th fild an glan among th ars of grain aftr on in whos sight I may find favor. Lt m go to th filds and pick up th lftovrs bhind anyon in whos ys I find favor. Lt m go to th fild and lt m glan among th ars of grain aftr him I shall find favor in whos sight. Lt m go, I pray th, into th fild, and I gathr among th ars of corn aftr him in whos ys I find grac; Th ida is not difficult chcks to s if sh would hav prmission to go into a fild and gathr grain aftr anyon in whos ys sh would find grac that is, aftr anyon who would allow hr to do so. Lt s work out som of th dtails. Aftr ars of grain, w hav th prposition achar ( ) [pronouncd ah-khahr], which mans aftr, following, bhind. Strong s #310 BDB #29. Thn w hav th rlativ pronoun shr ( ) [pronouncd ash-er], which mans that, which, whn or who. W might could gt away with anyon. Strong's #834 BDB #81. W thn hav th Qal imprfct of to find followd by th masculin noun chêk ( ) [pronouncd cak], which mans grac, favor, blssing. Strong s #2580 BDB #336. W thn hav in his ys. This givs us: aftr whom in his ys I find favor or bhind him in whos sight I find grac. Not that it is not Naomi who suggsts to that sh go to th filds and glan whrvr sh is allowd to. Also not that dos not implor Naomi to join hr. Sh has chosn from hr own fr will to provid for Naomi. Givn that Naomi had two adult sons who marrid and thn passd away, laving bhind wivs who ar still attractiv, w may rasonably dtrmin that is in hr lat 20 s or 30 s and that Naomi is in hr 50 s at last. Givn lif in th ancint world, Naomi would hav had hr hands full with taking car of th hous, th watr and th othr ncssitis of th hom. It was th Law that rquird thos with a fild to harvst not to pick up that which thy had droppd and to lav patchs of th fild untouchd during harvst (Lv. 19: :22 Dut. 24:19 21). Th intntion was that thos who wr poor and hungry could go into th fild aftr th harvstrs and gt nough to gt by on. Thos who wr poor still had to do som work to gain th food, but thy did not hav to own th fild nor did thy hav to plant in ordr to tak from it. On of th things with which th Law was concrnd was th poor and th hlplss. Though th Bibl is basd upon a laissz-fair capitalism, that dos not man that it tachs that only th strong should surviv. Th Bibl is not Darwinism. Th Law vry crtainly tachs, from th vry bginning, that th poor, th sick, th hlplss should b takn car of. If God has prosprd you, that is wondrful howvr, H oftn provids for th lss fortunat through you. If a brothr or a sistr is without clothing and in nd of daily food, and on of you says to thm, God in pac, b warmd and b filld, and yt you do not giv thm what is ncssary for thir body, what us is that? (Jams 2:15 16). Now, during this tim priod of apostasy th tim of th Judgs thr would crtainly b thos who would harvst vrything that thy could (Isral in gnral ignord th Sabbath Yar; thrfor, w can assum thr wr grat portions of th Law which wr ignord. Howvr, thr wr also thos did oby God s Law, and Boaz was on of ths. H saw to it that produc was lft bhind for th poor to tak. McG: God told His popl that thy had to tak car of th poor, and do it in this vry unusual way. God didn t put thm on rlif. H didn t hav an anti-povrty program that just gav thm mony. God did it, I think, in a vry snsibl way. Thy had to go and glan. Th law is dirctd, you s, to th land ownr...it was God s way of taking car of th poor popl of that day. H didn t put thm on rlif; H didn t gt thm in a brad lin; H didn t

4 Th Book of 39 mak thm rcipints of charity. H gav thm somthing to do. Thy had to work for what thy got.. Thy could go into th filds and glan, and thy would hav to do it by hand. 3 Bar in mind, that vn though thr wr provisions in th Law for th poor, that dosn t man that th Law was always adhrd to. According to Kil and Dlitzsch (and I don t know whr thy got thir information), som farmrs would throw obstacls in th way of th poor and othrs would vn forbid thm from glaning in thir 4 filds. It would b human natur, particularly during a tim of grat dgnracy (during which tims, thr would b famin as wll), w would xpct that many landownrs would not oby th Law. For that rason, undoubtdly ndd to carfully sarch out a fild whr th cornrs rmaind unharvstd, as pr th Mosaic Law. Now, you might vot for whatvr party you bliv to tak th bst car of th poor, yt, if thr ar on or two bums hanging around your shop door so that you bliv thm to b dcrasing your businss, you r going to want thm out of thr. Landownrs arn t going to want thir filds filld with transints and poor popl ithr. So w can xpct that many Isralits did not follow th Law hr. You must furthr raliz that going out and picking up what th harvstrs hav lft bhind is both humiliating and dangrous. Th ownr of a fild might b walthy and hav som intgrity, but th workrs in th fild and th slavs in th fild may hav bn lss rfind. Th ownr may not want a bggar glaning his fild and hint that whatvr happns to th bggar is non of his concrn. As an attractiv woman, is risking sxual assault. Furthrmor, sinc is a forign woman without mans, sh would b vn lss saf in th harvsting filds. Howvr, sh is willing to tak th risk, as sh has assumd rsponsibility to tak car of hr mothr-in-law. Now, what is most intrsting, is th was awar of this provision of th Mosaic Law. W do not know xactly how, as Bibls wr no in grat prolifration thn as thy ar now. In any cas, what this would indicat is that hr promis to Naomi that Naomi s God would b hr God was mor than just a vrbal nicty. Sh did know somthing about th God of Isral and knw somthing of His Word. It should b obvious that and Naomi ar in grat povrty. Naomi still owns th land which was originally hr husband s by inhritanc; howvr, sh dos not hav nough mony to vn work th land. Thy ar so poor that th only way that can provid for thm is to go out to somon ls s fild and pick up th grain which th raprs drop onto th ground. Th Bibl has a lot to say about mony and th lack throf. Th poor ar oftn prsntd as analogous to unblivrs. Th Spirit of th Lord is upon M bcaus H has anointd M to proclaim th good nws to th poor. (Luk 4:18a Isa. 61:1). Our Lord proclaimd th gospl to th litral poor (as H did to th rich), but th poor illustratd salvation mor prfctly. Thy cam to Christ without assts, without anything to giv Him, without anything to offr Him. Jsus took nothing from thm, yt offrd thm vrything. Also, so that no on would viw th poor as an vil or as cursd by God, God mad ampl provision for th poor in th Pntatuch. Convrsly, th rich wr occasionally prsntd as thos who brought thmslvs and thir own works to Christ. Whn th rich young rulr cam to Christ, h prsntd Jsus with his grat morality, but lft unabl to sav himslf. Now, this is not to say that povrty is good and bing rich is bad thy ar simply prsntd at tims as analogous to our coming to Christ. W can approach Him in our povrty or w can approach Him in our walth. Whn w com to Him in our povrty, w can b savd, as w ar in nd of a Savior. Howvr, in th normal sns of th trms, povrty is not prsntd in th Bibl as a blssing, nor ar richs prsntd as a curs. In fact, it is quit th opposit. W ar somtims blssd with walth and God prsnts Himslf as walthy. For vry bast of th forst is Min; th cattl on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10). Thrfor, prosprity, in and of itslf, is not vil or wrong. In fact, it is oftn on form of blssing from God. Th oft mis-quotd vrs Mony is th root of all vil, is actually, Th lov of mony is th root of all vil (I Tim. 6:10). 3 4 J. Vrnon McG,, Thru th Bibl Radio, h1976 in La Vrn, California, p. 28. Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p. 348.

5 Chaptr 2 40 And so sh wnt and so sh cam in and so sh gland in th fild aftr th raprs and so chancd upon hr chanc a part of th fild to Boaz who [was] from a family of Elimlch. 2:3 So sh walkd and wnt into and gland in a fild following th raprs, and thn hr chanc bfll [hr] in th part of th fild [which blongd] to Boaz, who [was] from th family of Elimlch. Sh lft and wnt into a fild whr sh pickd up that produc lft bhind by th raprs, and it just so happnd that sh was in a portion of th fild which blongd to Boaz, who was of th family of Elimlch. W hav a pairing of words in this vrs which ar difficult to rndr. Th noun is mîq rh ( ) [pronouncd rd mik -REH], which mans, accidnt, chanc, fortun. Strong's #4745 BDB #899. It is affixd to th 3 prson fminin suffix and prcdd by its vrbal cognat, qârâh ( ) [pronouncd kaw-rawh] which mans to ncountr, to mt, to bfall. Howvr, in this word is just th slight hint of chanc; somthing just might happn. Strong's #7136 (noun #4745) BDB #899. Ths two togthr ar variously rndrd and hr chanc lightd (Own), as it turnd out (NIV), and hr chanc happnth (Young), hr chanc chancd upon (NASB litrally), and sh happnd to com upon (NASB), hr chanc chancd to hit upon th fild (Kil and Dlitzsch). Th sns is that sh had bn glaning th filds i.., picking up that which th raprs droppd or did not harvst and sh just happnd to go into th fild ownd by Boaz. On th human sid, it was th fortuitous concurrnc of circumstancs. At this tim had not vn so much as hard of Boaz. Not until sh rturnd at th conclusion of that day did sh larn from th lips of Naomi, Th man is nar of kin unto us, on of our nxt kinsmn....[many] would intrprt th pisod of that day as fat. In th program of God, thr is no such thing as fat, chanc or accidnt. As th rmaindr of th story wll illustrats, this was not chanc, but th lading of th unsn hand of God. All this happnd according to his dirction. This was on instanc out of millions of th providntial dalings of God in th vryday affairs of man. Cromwll said: Lt us look into providncs; surly thy man somwhat. Thy hang so togthr, hav bn so constant, so clar, so uncloudd. 5 McG continus: In th final analysis, no accidnt can happn to a child of God. H may b in a car wrck or h may b killd instantly; but for th child of God, that cannot b finally dfind as an accidnt. Nothing can com to a Christian that dos not first rciv th prmission of God. Chanc is rmovd from th child of God, for h is lik Job, of whom Satan said, Hast not thou mad an hdg about him? Th Christian can aris amidst th alarming vicissituds of lif and affirm, And w know that all things work togthr for good to thm that lov God, to thm who ar th calld according to his purpos (Romans 8:28). 6 What appars to b th cas is that a hug fild may hav bn plantd and harvstd, with portions of this fild blonging to diffrnt familis or family mmbrs. Although Boaz is mntiond in v. 1, this dos not man that Naomi strd toward his filds. Th us of qârâh indicats that sh just happnd to nd up in his fild apart from any dirction from Naomi and v. 1 tlls us that Boaz was a clos acquaintanc of Naomi s lat husband, as wll as a rlativ. W know this as divin providnc. God strs and guids us at various priods of tim. W don t hav to ovr-think simpl situations, and pondr, dos God want m to mak a lft turn or a right turn? God taks car of ths things. God saw to it that ndd up in th fild of Boaz. McG commnts: How is sh going to find hr way into th fild of Boaz? It s going to b vry important that sh go into th right fild...whn wnt out of Bthlhm that day, sh had no notion whr to go...from hr viwpoint, it was just by chanc...now this brings us again to th qustion: How did sh find hr way into th fild of Boaz whn it was so vry important that sh go into th right fild? Did God put up a stop and go sign, a rd and grn light, or point an arrow into th rightfild? H did not. Wll thn, did a voic spak out of havn? No, no voic spok out of havn. Wll, sh must hav had a vision, somon thinks. But sh didn t hav a vision. Wll, how in th world is this girl going to gt into th right fild? Lt s ask. I would say to hr,, I m sur that you had som prtty dfinit 5 6 J. Vrnon McG,, th Romanc of Rdmption; Thru th Bibl Books, hpasadna, California, p. 64. J. Vrnon McG,, th Romanc of Rdmption; Thru th Bibl Books, hpasadna, California, p. 65.

6 Th Book of 41 lading about th fild of Boaz. And sh d say, No, I didn t...i just happnd to go in thr. May I say to you, from th human viwpoint, it was just happnstanc. From God s viwpoint, it s somthing ls. H s going to lad hr into th right fild. But H s not going to lad hr in th way a lot of popl talk about it today. Som folks talk about God s will as if thy d just had a Wstrn Union tlgram from Him or a Spcial Dlivry air mail lttr from havn. My frind, God dosn t lad that way today, and I don t think H has vr ld vry many that way. Back in th Old Tstamnt H ld som in a vry dirct mannr, but was not on of thm. It sms to m that s dcision is mor important than som othr dcisions that wr mad...bcaus Jsus birth in Bthlhm is dpndnt upon hr going into th right fild...god is going to guid in th background. That s th wondrful thing about th Lord s will. I m not sur that it s ncssary for God to giv you and m a road map. Somtims I wish H would. And I har som popl talk today as if thy hav a road map. Thy say, Th Lord s will was for m to do this, and I knw this was th Lord s will. I wish I could b that clar, that sur. 7 McG thn rlats a prsonal dcision which was rathr momntous in his own lif: Yars ago, whn I was pastor in Clburn, Txas, I rcivd two calls from othr churchs, on to th ast of Txas and th othr to th wst in California. And I didn t know which to tak. I m bing honst with you. I actually got down on th floor and crid out to God to show m which call to accpt. H didn t. I had no vision. But thn I hard Dr. Harry Ironsid mak th statmnt that of th dcisions h had to mak in his lif, ight pr cnt (I think this is th figur h gav) wr mad without knowing at th tim thy wr God s will. H did not know until somtim latr on. Aftr haring that, I wnt back hom and told my wif that th atmosphr had all clard, that I flt w wr to go to California. I wasn t sur, but I flt that was th way I was to mov. As far as God s will for your lif is concrnd, if you think that H s going to put up a grn light for you at vry cornr or an arrow pointing or a voic out of havn, you r just wrong. H dosn t do it that way. And whn I har popl say that, I just know thr s somthing radically wrong with thm, or thy r trying to kid sombody...dr. Ironsid said that aftrward h knw whthr it had bn God s will or not. And I think that somtims God dos lt us go down th wrong road. But, sombody is going to say, you could mak a prtty bad dcision. You sur can. But th intrsting thing is that if you hav two ways bfor you and you tak th wrong way, thr s nothing in th world that ll kp you from coming back and starting ovr again. And you can b sur of son thing: If you had two ways to choos from and chos th wrong way first, thn you know which is th right way. It s amazing today how many popl intrprt God s will as bing th asy way. Wll, it s not always th asy way. It crtainly wasn t for. 8 McG continus: On of th glorious things, as w go through this world today, is to know that our tims ar in His hands; to know that H is ordring th vnts of this univrs; and to know that God has said that nothing can com to a child of His without His prmission. You must rmmbr that thr was a hdg around Job, and vn Satan couldn t touch him until God gav prmission. God will not giv prmission unlss it srvs som lofty and worthy purpos. It did srv a lofty and worthy purpos in th lif of Job. And I m sur that did not raliz th significanc of th dcision sh was making. Sh just wnt in...for th child of God today who is frustratd bcaus h s looking for som sign, som xprinc, som light, som voic, som vision, som dram, h must raliz that God is not spaking to us in that way today. God today is spaking to us through His Word. And th child of God who walks in fllowship with God, with no unconfssd sin in his lif, and has not grivd th Holy Spirit, can commit his lif to God. And whn h gts to a plac whr h isn t clar just what god s will is for him, h can mak a dcision and mov into th situation. Now mayb h maks a wrong dcision, but God has prmittd it for a purpos. As I look back on my lif, thr is on instanc whr I xpctd God to opn up a door for m, and H didn t opn up that door. In fact, H slammd th door, as it wr, in my fac, and I flt vry badly about it. But I thank God that H did it, bcaus now I can look back and s that it was bst. It s lik what Josph said to his brthrn whn thy cam to him aftr th dath of old Jacob, thir fathr. H aid in Gnsis 50:20, But as for you, y thought vil against m; but God mant it unto 7 8 J. Vrnon McG,, Thru th Bibl Radio, h1976 in La Vrn, California, pp J. Vrnon McG,, Thru th Bibl Radio, h1976 in La Vrn, California, pp

7 Chaptr 2 42 good. How wondrful that is, and may it b an ncouragmnt to you today. Prhaps you ar actually biting your fingrnails and ar wondring why you don t gt clar lading. You know Christians who act lik thy hav a hotlin to havn. Now it s wondrful that all of us hav accss to God, but I m not sur that H always talks right back to us. So lt s b vry carful today about th way w bantr about th statmnt, I know this is th Lord s will. W just can t always b sur. But w can commit our way to Him, hav no unconfssd sin in our livs, not griv th Holy Spirit, and b in th cntr of th Lord s will as bst w know. Ys, my frind, you can commit yourslf to Him in a wondrful way. And vn if you got into th sam prdicamnt that Josph did, or vn that Job didn t say with him, Though h slay m, yt will I trust in him (Job 13:15). My frind, that s th glorious truth that brings a joy and an xpctancy to lif. Th providnc of God maks vry day a thrill for th child of God. I m glad that H didn t giv m a bluprint bcaus, frankly, I lik to tak a trip ovr a nw road, going into an ara I v nvr bn bfor. I did that on autumn whn w wr in th Ozarks. My, how that road twistd and turnd. And vry twist and turn was a thrill th autumn lavs wr a riot of color. Natur smd lavish, covring vry hillsid with polychrom picturs. And I m so glad, frind, that God didn t snd m picturs of it all ahad of tim. What a thrill lif can bcom for us! 9 <<rturn to outlin>> Boaz Inquirs about, Who Is Glaning in His Fild And, bhold, Boaz cam from Bthlhm and so h said to th raprs, Y howah with you. And so thy said to him, Blss you, Y howah. 2:4 And, obsrv, Boaz cam in from Bthlhm and h said to th raprs, Y howah [b] with you. And thy said to him, Y howah blss you. And thn Boaz cam into th fild from Bthlhm and h said to his raprs, May Jhovah b with you. And thy answrd him, May Jhovah blss you as wll. Boaz, and Naomi all liv in Bthlhm. Whn Isral originally sttld Canaan, thr was a larg numbr of thm (according to a numbring systm which w do not fully undrstood, it appars as though thr wr two million Isralits who populatd Isral). Prior to ntring th land, 76,500 of ths wr mals from th trib of Judah ovr th ag of 21. Givn that thr wr about 115 citis in Judah, this mans that th avrag city had a population of in all (if th numbring of th Old Tstamnt is off by a factor of 10, thn w might b talking about popl pr villag, on avrag). Bthlhm is not vn mntiond in th distribution of citis, and thr ar passags which indicat that it was a small town, dwarfd in th shadow of Jrusalm. This would indicat that w ar daling with a small town. My guss is that w hav a town with a population of 10 anywhr btwn 300 and Now would b a good tim to stop for a momnt and xamin th City of Bthlhm (PDF vrsion). Hr in v. 4, Boaz and thos who workd for him undrstood that th sourc of thir prosprity was God. What w hav hr is a ritual not unlik a blssing prior to a mal which indicats that both Boaz and his workrs wr blivrs. Thy undrstood that, although thy plantd and thn harvstd th fild, th watring and th yild cam from God. According to Jams Frman, such salutations ar hard vn today in th ast. 11 McG: Notic what [Boaz] did whn h got out thr. H said to th raprs, Th Lord b with you. That s capital spaking. And thy rspondd, Th Lord blss th, and that s labor answring. Say, that dosn t sound lik som of th labor ladrs and capitalists of our day, dos it? It dosn t sound lik th stl workrs or th stl ownrs ithr. Unfortunatly, capital and labor both ar vry far from God 9 10 J. Vrnon McG,, Thru th Bibl Radio, h1976 in La Vrn, California, pp I am taking othr factors into considration;.g., th numbr of ldrs that Boaz was abl to round up; th fact that h had svral popl harvsting his fild; th fact that thr is an implication that thr wr svral ownrs of larg filds; th fact that it was asy for Boaz to locat th othr nar rlativ of Naomi, tc. 11 Mannrs and Customs of th Bibl; Jams M. Frman; rprintd in 1972 by Logos Intrnational; p. 128.

8 Th Book of 43 today. Now, frankly, I am a poor prachr, and I m not a capitalist. My Dad was a working man. I rmmbr him in ovralls most of th tim bcaus h was a hard workr. I just can t sanction godlss capitalism today. From listning to thm, I gt th imprssion that most of th labor ladrs ar vry godlss. I don t tak sids today. I just wish that w could gt somthing of ral Christianity, th ral born-again typ, into this ara. It would crtainly hlp th rlationship. You d har languag lik this. Capital: Th Lord b with you. And thn labor answring: Th Lord blss th. My, what a marvlous capital/labor rlationship xistd thr in th filds of Boaz! 12 You will not that Boaz is vry hands on with his prosprity. In Matt. 6:25 31, Jsus tlls his discipls not to b anxious about thir daily provisions that God has takn car of ths things for us. This dos not man that w sit at th dinnr tabl waiting for God to drop food bfor us. Boaz works and Boaz is involvd in his businss, as h wll should b. It is a part of his rsponsibility in having walth. Whn you har about thos who buy lottry tickts, and thy will tll you that th first thing thy ar going to do whn thy win is to quit thir jobs and travl or liv th good lif. Thy simply want to gt this mony and go out and spnd it on thmslvs. Boaz is walthy and notic whr h is h is out in th fild with his forman and his concrn is to his workmn and th harvst. Thn h turns his concrn to th bggar woman h ss in his fild. This is why Boaz is rich and you ar not. H handls his walth with godly rsponsibility. And so said Boaz to his young man, th on standing ovr th raprs, To whom th maidn th this? 2:5 Thn Boaz said to his srvant, th on stationd ovr th raprs, To whom [blongs] this maidn? Thn Boaz said to his srvant, th forman ovr th raprs, To what family dos this maidn blong? Boaz spaks to th masculin singular of na ar ( ) [pronouncd NAH- ahr], which mans boy, youth, young - - man, prsonal attndant. It can also rfr to a slav or a srvant, as in Gn. 24:2 II Kings 5:20, or to a prsonal attndant (Judgs 19:2). Strong s #5288 & 5289 BDB #654. This young attndant was th forman in charg ovr th raprs. H is dscribd with th dfinit articl and th masculin singular, Niphal participl of nâtsa b v B ( ) [pronouncd naw-tsah V], which mans to station onslf, to tak on s stand, to stand up, to st somthing upright, to rct. In th Niphal, th passiv stm, it mans to b stationd, to b lft standing, to station onslf, to tak on s stand. Th participl is usd as a noun hr, rfrring to his position th on standing ovr th raprs. Strong s #5324 BDB #662. You may wondr if Boaz was abl to immdiatly dtrmin that this was a forign woman. Absolutly not. Lot was th nphw of Abraham, and Boaz was dscndd from Abraham and was dscndd from Lot. Thir familis had both livd in th mid-ast with 100 mils from on anothr thrfor, it is unlikly that thr would b any physical charactristics which would distinguish from th Isralit womn. Sh was just a woman in th filds of Boaz. Howvr... It apparntly was unusual for an attractiv womn to b glaning th filds aftr th raprs; and it is obvious that was particularly attractiv, catching th y of Boaz. Thrfor, h asks about hr. McG: Now, our King Jams translation hr is rathr stiltd...what Boaz said hr is not quit, Whos damsl is this? May I just giv you svral vry fr translations? H says, Wll, whr in th world has sh bn that I havn t mt hr bfor?...h fll for this girl. This is lov at first sight. Thn McG gts prsonal again: And mayb you r wondring if I bliv in lov at first sight. May I say to you, I bliv in it vry strongly. I proposd to my wif on th scond dat w had. Th rason I didn t propos to hr on th first dat was bcaus I didn t want hr to think I was in any hurry. Now don t gt any idas if you r a young prson. It was a yar bfor w got marrid. W wantd to mak sur. Ys, I bliv in lov at first sight, but I think lov ought to b bstd by quit a bit of tim bfor 12 J. Vrnon McG,, Thru th Bibl Radio, h1976 in La Vrn, California, pp

9 Chaptr 2 44 marriag taks plac. Boaz had a cas of lov at first sight. This man rally fll for, and this is romanc in th filds of Boaz, if you plas. 13 And so answrd th young man, th on standing ovr th raprs, and so h said, A maidn Moabitss sh [is] th turning back with Naomi from fild of Moab. 2:6 And th srvant, th on stationd ovr th raprs, answrd, and said, Th maidn [is] a Moabitss; sh rturnd with Naomi from th country of Moab. And th srvant, th forman ovr th raprs, rspondd with, Th maidn is a Moabitss who rturnd with Naomi from th country of Moab. In th prvious vrs and in this vrs, is calld th fminin singular of na râh ( ) [pronouncd nahar-awh], which usually rfrs to an unmarrid woman. Strong s #5291 BDB #655. Although Boaz asks to whom blongd (i.., to what family), what Boaz rally wantd to know was, is this an unmarrid woman? H asks this qustion without asking it by using th trn na râh. His young man, by using th trm again, confirms that sh is an unmarrid woman. It is intrsting that th ovrsr knows about hr. Bthlhm, bing a small town, is possibly a plac whr vryon knw vryon s businss. It is just as rasonabl that voluntrd this information whn asking prmission to glan (s th nxt vrs). Thn th srvant adds som additional information concrning : And so sh says, Lt m glan, plas and gathr in th shavs aftr th raprs. And so sh cam and so sh is taking a stand thn, th morning and until now. This, hr sitting of th hous a littl. 2:7 Sh had askd, Plas lt m glan as wll as gathr in th rows of falln grain aftr th rapr. So sh cam in and sh has rmaind [sinc] thn, th morning, until now. Hr, hr sitting a littl [in] th hous. Sh had askd, Plas allow m to glan and to gathr in th rows of falln grain aftr th raprs go through. Sh has bn working sinc this morning and now sh is rsting in th shltr. Although most of this vrs is straightforward, w nd to look at a portion of it in dtail: Th Emphasizd Bibl NASB NIV Own's Translation REB Th Sptuagint...and sh said Lt m glan, I pray th, and gathr among th shavs, aftr th raprs; so sh cam in, and hath continud from that tim all th morning until just now, and hath not rstd in th hous for a littl. And sh said, Plas lt m glan and gathr aftr th raprs among th shavs. Thus sh cam and has rmaind from th morning until now; sh has bn sitting in th hous for a littl whil. Sh said, Plas lt m glan and gathr among th shavs bhind th harvstrs. Sh wnt into th th fild and has workd stadily from morning till now, xcpt for a short rst in th shltr. Sh said, Pray, lt m glan an gathr among th shavs aftr th raprs. So sh cam and sh has continud from arly morning until now. This hr staying in th hous a littl. Sh askd if sh might glan, gathring among th shavs bhind th raprs. Sh cam and has bn on hr ft from morning till now; sh has hardly had a momnt s rst in th shltr. And sh said, I pray you, lt m glan and gathr among th shavs aftr th raprs. And sh cam and stood from morning till vning and rstd not [vn] a littl in th fild. 13 J. Vrnon McG,, Thru th Bibl Radio, h1976 in La Vrn, California, pp

10 Th Book of 45 Young's Lit. Translation...and sh saith, Lt m glan, I pray th and I hav gathrd among th shavs aftr th raprs; and sh comth and rmainth sinc th morning and till now; sh sat in th hous a littl. I don t know about you, but I didn t know what th hll shavs wr. Whn popl sing Bringing in th shavs in church, I didn t know whthr th church would b bttr srvd by laving thm outdoors for awhil. Th word is ômr ( ) [pronouncd OH-mr], and this is found mor oftn in that song than in th Bibl. W find this about a dozn tims in Scriptur. It mans shaf or a row of falln grain. Strong s #6016 BDB #771. cam into th fild and thn sh did th Qal imprfct of âmad ( ) [pronouncd aw-mahd], which mans to tak a stand, to stand, to rmain, to ndur, to withstand. This is th sam word usd to dscrib th position of authority of th young man spaking to Boaz. Strong's #5975 BDB #763. Aftr that, w hav th advrb thn and th masculin singular noun bôqr ( ) [pronouncd BOH-kr], which mans morning. Strong s #1242 BDB #133. This is followd, litrally, by and, until now. So far, w know that Boaz obys th Law of Moss and allows th poor to glan in his filds. W also know that askd prmission to do this. Sh did not just wandr into th fild and bgin gathring things sh askd prmission of th ovrsr. It is th scond part of this vrs which is rathr difficult. If you will notic th various translations, th REB and Sptuagint (as wll as othr translations,.g., th NRSV) sm to say just th opposit of what th othr translations say. W bgin this sntnc with th dmonstrativ adjctiv zh ( ) [pronouncd zh], which mans hr, this. Strong s #2063, 2088, 2090 BDB #260. Although I lik th maning givn by th NIV xcpt for a short rst in th shltr w don t hav any rason to think that zh should b rndrd xcpt. Thn w rd b B hav th 3 prson fminin singular, Qal infinitiv construct of yâsha v ( ) [pronouncd yaw-shah V] and it mans to rmain, to inhabit, to sit, to dwll. Strong's #3427 BDB #442. With th fminin singular suffix, w rndr this hr rmaining, hr sitting. Th hous rfrrd to is likly a shltr or a building for th workrs outsid, which may hav bn littl mor than opn shltr with a roof to shltr thm from th sun. Th last word in this sntnc is m a ( ) [pronouncd m- AHT], which mans a littl, fwnss, fw. Strong s #4592 BDB #589. Th Sptuagint throws in th ngativ, as apparntly dos th Vulgat, which accounts for th almost contradictory rndrings. Although th NRSV says that th Hbrw is unclar, it rally isn t. Th problm is that th Hbrw says on thing, and th Grk and th Latin say somthing ls. Thrfor, this ithr mans that workd for a long tim, and has only now pausd to rst in th shltr; or, sh workd from morning till now without vn taking a rst in th shltr. In any cas, th point is that sh had workd a long tim in Boaz s fild. Th rasonabl scnario is that Boaz cam out and took a look at what was going on in his fild and spnt ovr an hour in obsrvation. During that tim, took a rst in a building dsignd for th workrs. Thn Boaz inquirs his forman concrning hr. 14 McG: Although it s vry clar to us that Boaz has falln for this littl forign girl, his suprintndnt didn t s that at first, and h sms quit apologtic. This Moabitish woman cam out hr and askd to glan, and I couldn t turn hr down. Aftr all, th Mosaic systm prmits hr to com in hr and glan sinc sh s poor and a strangr. But h didn t nd to b apologtic, bcaus Boaz has falln in lov with this girl. 14 On of your concrns might b, why has not Boaz gon to look in on Naomi and offr thm som assistanc sinc thir rturn? This answr is fairly simpl: Boaz and Naomi ar not rlatd and Boaz is not closly rlatd to hr lat husband. Thr is a rlativ in Bthlhm who is mor closly rlatd to Elimlch than Boaz and if anyon should hav lnt a hlping hand, that rlativ should hav. Howvr, it is clar that h has not. I hav an unusual nam; and crtainly, if on of my brothrs or on of thir childrn ndd hlp, that would bcom a concrn of min. Howvr, if I ran into anothr prson with my last nam, or somon who was rlatd to somon with my last nam, and thy ndd hlp, I would fl lss obligatd. I hav had som tnants who, whn thy ar in financial troubl, think that I am th on who should bar th brunt of thir difficultis, whn in fact, it should b J. Vrnon McG,, Thru th Bibl Radio, h1976 in La Vrn, California, p. 35.

11 Chaptr 2 46 a nar rlativ of thirs. Boaz is far nough rmovd from Naomi that it is not his obligation to s to hr nds and to do so would hav bn prsumptuous. Bcaus it is a small town, h is probably awar that a Naomi has com back into Bthlhm with a daughtr-in-law, and h probably ralizs that sh is a distant rlativ of his by marriag. H may hav vn assumd that th narr rlativs had bn taking car of thm. For instanc, if on of my nphws or nics wr in financial troubl, I would just assum that my brothr and sistr-in-law ar taking car of th mattr and I would assum that unlss I am told othrwis. This is whr Boaz is if h knows of th troubls of Naomi and, thn h has assumd that th narr rlativ was taking car of thm. Howvr, h knows no mor than that, and h crtainly did not know, until this tim, how ftching was. Howvr, now that is in his fild glaning for food, h bcoms mor proactiv. <<rturn to outlin>> Boaz Spaks to Dirctly, to Protct and Provid for Hr And so said Boaz unto, Hav you not hard, my daughtr? You will not go to glan in a fild anothr and now you will not pass ovr from this, and thus you will cling with my maidns. 2:8 Latr, Boaz said to, Hav you not hard, my daughtr? You will not go to glan in anothr fild and you will not now pass ovr from this [fild]; and you will thus kp clos to my young womn. Latr, Boaz spok to, saying, Listn carfully, my daughtr. I would prfr that you not go and glan in anothr fild and that you not lav this portion of th fild, but that you would stay clos to my young fmal srvants. As with many of th quotations, it is difficult to always grasp what is bing said. According to th following translations, this is what Boaz said to : NASB NIV Own's Translation Young's Lit. Translation Listn carfully [lit., Hav you not hard?], my daughtr. Do not go to glan in anothr fild; furthrmor, do not go on from this on, but stay hr with my maids. My daughtr, listn to m. Don t go and glan in anothr fild and don t go away from hr. Stay hr with my srvant girls. Now, listn, my daughtr: do not go to glan in anothr fild or lav this on, but kp clos to my maidns. Hast thou not hard, my daughtr? go not to glan in anothr fild, and also, pass not ovr from this, and thus thou dost clav to my young womn;... What Boaz first says to is, Hav you not hard? W would tak this as somon has (or, was supposd to) spak prviously to about this mattr. Howvr, I think this xprssion is mor of a colloquialism, xprssd rasonably wll by th NIV (listn to m) or by th NASB (Listn carfully). Bullingr trats this as a kindly admonition. nd Th nxt thr main vrbs ar all found in th 2 prson fminin singular, Qal imprfct, and th first two ar nd affixd to a ngativ. Oftn, th 2 prson, Qal imprfct functions as a command. This is ssntially th format for th Tn Commandmnts. It is a command which rcognizs volition. This ngativ command is on which is mad out of lov. Boaz is not looking to run s lif at this point. Him tlling hr not to glan in any othr fild is his way of tlling hr that h will watch ovr hr and protct hr. H is not looking to prohibit hr fr movmnt. Similarly, th Laws of God particularly thos givn from Mount Sinai do not rflct God s dsir to limit our frdom and to rain on our parad; ths Laws ar givn to us out of lov and for our protction. Whn a parnt tlls a child that thy ar not to do this or that, it is a prohibition givn out of lov, a prohibition givn to protct th objct of that lov. b b Th scond main vrb is â var ( ) [pronouncd aw -VAHR], which mans to pass ovr, to pass through, to b b pass, to go ovr. Strong s #5674 BDB #716. Th third main vrb is dâ vaq ( ) [pronouncd daw -VAHK],

12 Th Book of 47 which mans to cling, to clav, to hold clos, to kp clos, to adhr. Strong s #1692 BDB #179. With this, w hav th advrb kôh ( ) [pronouncd koh], which mans so, thus, hr, hnc. Strong s #3541 BDB #462. Barns tlls us that th forms of two of th vrbs appar to b Chaldaic, and h suggsts that is th dialct spokn 15 in Bthlhm in that day. I prsonally wondr if th vrb form is Moabit, and that Boaz is using som of s nativ dialct to mak hr fl at as. In going from th Hbrw into th English, it is difficult to pinpoint xactly th point of viw of Boaz. Was h prsnting himslf as a fathrly protctor ovr ; did h hav a prsonal intrst in apart from simply dsiring to watch ovr hr? It would not b unrasonabl to suppos that his words wr intntionally chosn not to rval any mor than a fathrly intrst, whthr or not his intrst in hr was mor prsonal. You ys in th fild whr thy ar raping and you hav gon aftr thm. Hav I not chargd th young mn to not touch you? And you hav thirstd and you hav gon to th vssls and you hav drunk from that which hav drawn th young mn. 2:9 Your ys [ar] upon th fild whr thy ar raping, and you will go aftr thm. Hav I not commandd th young mn not to molst you? And, [whn] you bcom thirsty, you will go to th vssls and you will drink from that which th young mn hav drawn. You ar looking at th fild whr th raprs ar. I would lik you to follow thm, and I hav commandd th young mn not to harass you. Whn you ar thirsty, thn you will drink from th vssls which th young mn hav drawn. What Boaz chargd th young mn not to do is th Qal infinitiv construct of nâga ( ) [pronouncd naw- GAH ], which mans to touch. This word is usd in svral snss; hr, th sns is that h has commandd his mn not to molst hr. Strong's #5060 BDB #619. Boaz tlls to xamin th fild whr th raping is taking plac, and tlls hr to follow right aftr th raprs. This way, sh rmains within his fild and undr th protction of his workrs. Plas raliz that is a singl, young woman, without any man to look out for hr. Sh is a forign woman, on who may b dspisd bcaus sh is a Moabitss, dspit th fact that sh is attractiv. To b quit frank, whil in th harvst filds, sh is vry vulnrabl to an attack as wll as to rap. Boaz put his cloak of protction around hr, as McG puts it. At th bginning of a work day, th young mn also draw out watr to drink, and sh is told that sh may drink of that watr whn sh is thirsty. This is obviously a privilg which is givn to thos who work for Boaz. In fact, th protction h has affordd hr, his allowanc of hr harvsting in th filds (which, although is rquird by th Law, was crtainly not always obyd), and th accss to th workrs watr ar all spcial privilgs. Sh will crtainly ask why sh is givn ths privilgs. And so sh fll upon hr facs and so sh was bowing ground-ward and so sh said unto him, Why hav I found grac in your ys to your rgard of m and I [am] a forignr? 2:10 Thn sh fll upon hr fac and sh bowd to th ground and said to him, Why hav I found grac in your ys that you acknowldg m, [as] I am a forignr? Sh prostratd hrslf bfor him, bowing, and said, Why hav I found grac in your sight that you vn acknowldg m, sing that I am a forignr? What sh found was th masculin singular noun chêk again, ( ) [pronouncd cak], which mans grac, favor, blssing. Strong s #2580 BDB #336. Aftr grac, w hav in your ys, which is followd by th Hiphil infinitiv construct of nâkar ( ) [pronouncd naw-kahr], and it mans to rgard, to rcogniz, to acknowldg. Strong s #5234 BDB # Barns Nots, Volum 2, rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books; p. 475.

13 Chaptr 2 48 What sh calls hrslf is th fminin singular adjctiv (usd as a substantiv) of nâk rîy ( ) [pronouncd nawck -REE], and it mans forign, alin. Strong s #5237 BDB #648. is a Moabit, and, as w hav sn, thr wr problms btwn th Jws and th Moabits. Th Jws wr ithr undr Moabit opprssion at that tim or wr rcntly undr Moabit opprssion (Judgs 3:14). Th popl of Moab did not provid any food or watr for th Isralits whn thy travld from Egypt to Canaan. Moss had told th popl not to allow Moabits or Ammonits into th worship srvics of Jhovah for this rason (Dut. 23:3 6). Thrfor, xpctd just th opposit of considration from Boaz. Sh rcognizd that sh was th rcipint of grac and sh knw that sh had don nothing to dsrv it. 16 Lawson: thought of hrslf gratly honourd by th attntions of Boaz. Sh was a strangr and forignr, an alin to th commonwalth of Isral, and did not rckon hrslf ntitld to any kindnss from th popl of th lord. Prhaps sh did not yt know how kindly th laws of Isral rquird thm to trat strangrs. Th childrn of Isral had thmslvs bn strangrs for many gnrations in th land of Egypt, and wr rquird to show that kindnss to strangrs which thy would hav gladly rcivd from th popl among whom thy sojournd. Boaz, abov all othr Isralits at that tim, might b xpctd to trat forign womn with favour; for his own mothr had bn not only a strangr, but on of th accursd nation of Canaan; and yt thr was not an Isralit ntitld to mor rspct, for sh was famous, and dsrvd to b famous to all gnrations, both for hr faith and hr good works. Lawson continus: Most mn and womn ntrtain too high notions of thmslvs, bcaus thy think with complacncy on thos qualitis that sm to ntitl thm to considration, but ovrlook thos which diminish thir own valu. 17 W all hav our prsonal prjudics against thos w s as forign. Prhaps it s thos from Mxico, who com into th Unitd Stats with no mony and fw skills who do not spak out languag and hav troubl larning it. Or mayb it is th Jw or th Orintal who invads our cultur, kps to himslf or to hrslf, and outscors us in school and on all of th standardizd tsts, thn taks th last of th fw opnings at th good collgs and vntually taks th bttr positions out in th job forc. Or mayb it s th Arab, who looks diffrnt, talks funny, ats food which smlls funny and just nvr fits in as w think a prson should. was from th out-group. Isral and Moab wr long nmis ithr right thn or rcntly, Moab had opprssd Isral and was collcting tribut from Isral s labors. Now, whn a prson is succssful and walthy, vn from an out-group, thy can shild thmslvs to som dgr from th inhrnt prjudics from thos around thm thy may nvr fl as though thy fit in, but, at last it is not in thir fac all of th tim. Howvr, thr was no such shild for. If sh wantd to at, sh had to work, taking what rmaind in th filds as a common bggar. Sh had to b out and among thos who had intns dislik for hr. Boaz and ar from diffrnt countris; two which ar at nmity with ach othr. H is apparntly significantly oldr than hr ( 3:10), and, although h taks an intrst in hr (w don t know whthr it is romantic or not, although w suspct that it is), h is carful in what h says to hr. Hr words to him ar qually guardd. Essntially, w hav ths two popl asking ths things of on anothr, without allowing thir prsonal flings to b rvald, and yt sarching for information which might rval mor of th motivations of th othr. Now, lt s look at you and m. In th most intimat rcsss of our bings, w ar against God. W wr born with an old sin natur; our natural rspons arly in lif was that w blivd ourslvs to b th cntr of th univrs. In fact, som of us hav nvr gottn ovr that notion. W commit hinous sins. Oftn w know what is right and what is wrong and w just flat out do that which is wrong. Som of us vn rationaliz it away. W convinc ourslvs that what is wrong is right dp insid, w know w ar lying to ourslvs, but w do that. I hav sn so many popl who struggl to tak th words of Jsus totally out of contxt and us it to support som lam position thy hav takn in lif oftn a position of sin and vil. Finally, on th lgal sid, w carry with us Adam s imputd sin, and th pnalty which is du us for that. W ar at nmity with God. W couldn t b mor unlikabl to God. But Scriptur comforts us, Evn whil w wr yt sinnrs, Christ did for us (Rom. 5:8) J. Vrnon McG,, th Romanc of Rdmption; Thru th Bibl Books, hpasadna, California, p. 68. Lawson and Carson, An Exposition of and Esthr; htyndal Bibl Socity, Florida; p. 37.